If you believe Jesus was who you say he was, why did God send him at the time and place He did? It seems to me that the Jewish population in the area didn't seem to be having any major problems. That is unless you count the Roman occupation, which Jesus didn't seem to mind. If it was to redeem the Jewish population for their sins, that is if they accepted him as their savior, which they didn't, he missed the mark there. If it was to spread the new Christian religion among the pagans then wouldn't God have sent him to the pagans instead of the Israelites (who didn't appear to want him).
Just a thought, I'm sure someone out there has a logical answer.
The first problem is the assumption that Jesus was sent by God instead of working from his own social and personal motives.
now for addressing to one thought that scholars discuss about this topic. it would be interesting to read about the various miracle makers in the area during the times of Jesus, some of them have even entered the New Testament canon as competitors to Jesus.
Who knows. maybe Jesus was the most successful of these celebrity miracle makers? a 1st century Judean Uri Geller. only instead of stopping clocks he turned water into wine.
Also, it would be interesting to study the whole concept of apotheosis or deification throughout the Roman empire. it was a successful political tool of propaganda, that might have been put to use around the aura of the Jewish man from Galilee.
What ever are the facts around this. this is enough food for thought to study Jesus as a human being carefully instead of starting from a biased point of considering him as a divine being.
If I was to ever consider another man as Divine, I would spend every second of everyday studying every detail about this man, every decision he makes, every action he does, all of his knee jerks reactions. I might even come to adore this man, and this is where it probably would end, while many other people around the world instantly make the 'leap of faith' of treating a man as God without questioning this man, challenging him, debating him, or analysing his social and political ideas and motives. all that goes against the very basic tradition that Jesus himself grew up with and has practiced.
Jesus as a Jewish man himself, knew like any other Jewish man, that idolizing oneself as a messiah or a God is an abomination in Jewish tradition.
Jewish tradition very basics which is found in the Hebrew Bible is in the very name of the nation- Israel. which literally means 'To struggle with God'. the Hebrew Bible tells Jews that Jacob has physically struggled with an angel of the Lord, or with the Lord himself, in human form, pretty much a Biblical description of a hand to hand combat. the Hebrew Bible also tells us that Jacob prevailed and physically overcome the angel of God. Jacob then demanded a blessing. the being declared that from then on, Jacob would be called Israel. which means "one that struggled with the divine angel" (Josephus), "one who has prevailed with God" (Rashi), "a man seeing God" (Whiston), "he will rule as God" (Strong), or "a prince with God" (Morris)
Jacob asked the being's name, but he refused to answer. Afterwards Jacob named the place where he struggled with the angel Peniel, saying "I have seen God face to face and lived."
While Jesus preached to turn the other cheek when others attack you. the very Biblical name of the nation of Israel means to physically fight God and see how good you really are.
From the Patriarch Jacob, now Israel. the tribes of Israel originated. today the Jewish people are considered the people from the Biblical tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
The Bible tells us that with the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge. The first king of this new entity was Saul, who came from the Tribe of Benjamin, (1 Samuel 9:1-2) which at the time was the smallest of the tribes.
After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose David as its king. However, after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel.
Because of the importance of King David in Jewish tradition. the writers of the New Testament made sure to make a fictional genealogical link to King David, in order to inflate Jesus with royal proportions and to give more strength to his importance. however the sharp differences between the aura around King David in Jewish tradition, and the aura around Jesus in Christian tradition is remarkable. David became a King over Israel, because God favoured his humility. while in Christian tradition all streams focus on a major theme, proving the divinity of Jesus and elevating him above normal human beings.
King David was a Warrior-Poet, some of the most outstanding Biblical poetic pieces dedicated to Israelites in times of distress and war are attributed to him. Jesus if the New Testament is correct, had a different view of life, he chose to turn the other cheek, and let other men do battle for his nation.
Many Jewish men cannot relate to that kind of philosophy of life. Jewish men also despise other men preaching foreign dogmas to them, or other Jewish men trying to enforce their own religious world view, they look at it so badly, that in their hearts, they will always remember the potential danger this man poses to social stability. I cannot help but say that this is how Jewish men felt when hearing another citizen proclaiming himself a God.
He came for the Jews?
